Living Faith

Puzo tells the story of Domenico Clericuzio, a ferocious old man who is determined to secure his family's future in an era of legalized gambling, motion-picture investments and the threat of government informers.

Scholars have made urban mothers living in poverty a focus of their research for decades. These women’s lives can be difficult as they go about searching for housing and decent jobs and struggling to care for their children while surviving on welfare or working at low-wage service jobs and sometimes facing physical or mental health problems. But until now little attention has been paid to an important force in these women’s lives: religion. Based on in-depth interviews with women and pastors, Susan Crawford Sullivan presents poor mothers’ often overlooked views. Recruited from a variety of social service programs, most of the women do not attend religious services, due to logistical challenges or because they feel stigmatized and unwanted at church. Yet, she discovers, religious faith often plays a strong role in their lives as they contend with and try to make sense of the challenges they face. Supportive religious congregations prove important for women who are involved, she finds, but understanding everyday religion entails exploring beyond formal religious organizations. Offering a sophisticated analysis of how faith both motivates and at times constrains poor mothers’ actions, Living Faith reveals the ways it serves as a lens through which many view and interpret their worlds.

"Living by faith" is much more than a general Christian precept; it is the fundamental posture of believers in a world rife with suffering and injustice. In this penetrating reflection on the meaning of "justification," Oswald Bayer shows how this key religious term provides a comprehensive horizon for discussing every aspect of Christian theology, from creation to the end times. Inspired by and interacting with Martin Luther, the great Christian thinker who grappled most intensely with the concept of justification, Bayer explores anew the full range of traditional dogmatics (sin, redemption, eschatology, and others), placing otherwise complex theological terms squarely within their proper milieu -- everyday life. In the course of his discussion, Bayer touches on such deep questions as the hidden nature of God, the hope for universal justice, the problem of evil, and -- one of the book's most engaging motifs -- Job's daring lawsuit with God.

The archbishop of Denver addresses the difficult question of what it means to be a Catholic in the twenty-first century.

We all face stress and tension in our daily lives. How we respond either diffuses or ignites it. If lit, we can feel stretched beyond our capabilities, wondering why our God of abundant goodness doesn't remove the struggles we face. Grace in Tension affirms that although God doesn't create our tension, he does show up in the midst of it to lead us through. Centered on Jesus' interactions with Martha and Mary in the gospels, we can follow the sisters' transformative journeys through their own struggles. Reflecting on what transpires between Scripture verses, we see their initial tension become the catalyst that drives both Mary and Martha to the feet of Jesus -- the perfect place to discover peace. Simultaneously, Grace in Tension explores the areas where stress arises in our own lives. Each chapter contains helpful tips to address it, a thought-provoking prayer to inspire us to go to God with our problems, and questions for reflection to help us see all the ways he is working for our good. No matter how big or small our struggle, when we seek out God, he reveals what we need to do to resolve our tension, transforming it into grace. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Claire McGarry is the author of the Lenten devotionals With Our Savior and Abundant Mercy. She contributes regularly to Living Faith, CatholicMom.com, and blogs at ShiftingMyPerspective.com. Her work has appeared in Mornings with Jesus, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Keys for Kids, These Days, The Secret Place, and Focus on the Family magazine. The founder of MOSAIC of Faith, a ministry with several programs for mothers and children, she lives in New Hampshire with her husband and three children

How are we to live in these turbulent days? What will it look like to navigate the present crisis and its aftermath as followers of Jesus Christ? Living by Faith in Turbulent Times tackles these timely questions by taking us deep into the Bible's most famous passage on the nature of authentic faith, Hebrews 11. As we look to God's never-changing word for guidance and help for today, we find rich encouragement from key models of faith-men and women who walked with God and trusted his promises through fearful and challenging days. This new resource will not only strengthen followers of Jesus to walk by faith, but introduce others to the God who can be trusted in turbulent times.

* Portraits of three of the most important and effective activists of the last 60 years

Long before smart phones and the digital lifestyle appeared on the horizon, James spoke wisdom to anyone who will listen: "Blessed are doers of the word, not hearers only." Information is great but even the best information, the word of God, is incomplete without action. Action is the real currency of the twenty-first century. James: Recipe for a Living Faith is a six-week instruction manual on the Christian faith, penned by James, a younger brother of Jesus. In this study, the reader will consider topics that are essential to a dynamic and powerful faith journey: faith and works, staying faithful under persecution, partiality in the body of Christ, patience, the importance of taming the tongue, and prayer